Interview with Brandon King, DESIGNATION Alum and UX Designer at Domo

Brandon King, an alum of Fire Cohort. A designer based out of Salt Lake City, Brandon had a graphic design background coming into the program, but came here to acquire the skills to become a UX designer.

Where are you now working, and what is your job title?
I work at Domo as a UX designer.

Tell us a little bit about your new job!
I work on an awesome design team building a business intelligence SAAS product. Our goal is to let people make better business decisions based on their data that we help them prepare and visualize. I enjoy the job because our goal is to enable other people to do their best work.

How would you describe the DESIGNATION experience?
DESIGNATION is a place where you can take some time to dedicate yourself 100% to your own future. It is an environment where you can focus on your goals and make sure that they are met.

What was the most interesting or useful thing you learned during the cohort?
Just execute. We’ve all heard that ideas are worthless, but it really hit home while I was in Chicago how important it is to just create. The best way to learn is by doing.

“Being able to tell interviewers that I was serious enough about digital design to drop everything for 3 months and move to Chicago seemed to help me stand out.”

What are the people at DESIGNATION like (including staff, instructor and fellow students)?
The access to people who are currently in the career paths that I wanted to emulate was extremely valuable as I made decisions about what to focus my learning on and what sort of jobs I should pursue. The instructors were great about answering all the questions I could think to ask. Their patience with me was commendable.

What were you doing before you came to DESIGNATION?
I was working full-time as an all-purpose graphic designer at a small business that owned and organized marathons and bike races.

How did you hear about DESIGNATION, and why did you decide to come?
I think it was just Google. I’d been researching bootcamps for months, but had not found one that promised to help me learn what I wanted to know until I stumbled onto DESIGNATION.

How did DESIGNATION help prepare you for your new role?
I knew the kind of work that I wanted to be involved with, but didn’t know what steps to take to get in the industry. DESIGNATION helped me put my goals into more concrete terms. I’m still learning so much about product design through on-the-job experience—there is a huge amount to learn, but I learned enough to avoid making a fool out of myself in job interviews. Being able to tell interviewers that I was serious enough about digital design to drop everything for 3 months and move to Chicago seemed to help me stand out.

What was your favorite part of the DESIGNATION experience?
The other students. They were who I learned the most from.

What advice would you give to someone who was trying to break into the industry?
Do it. Now. There is room for everyone somewhere. Start today and don’t be afraid. Is that cliche enough?